


Pritchard

by and_crowley_lives1



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/and_crowley_lives1/pseuds/and_crowley_lives1
Summary: Halt and Crowley lose control, and they find themselves having to deal with Pritchards death. They have to let go if the past and look forward to the future.
Relationships: Crowley Meratyn/Halt O'Carrick
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2
Collections: Ranger's Apprentice Fanfic Christmas 2020





	Pritchard

**Author's Note:**

> T.W. Minor character death, descriptive violence [and wounds] Hatred.

Crowley smiled as he looked into the eyes of Halt, his Halt. This was his best friend, and he wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him. 

Unfortunately, a week ago, Lady Pauline had signed some divorce papers, and that had really hurt Halt. Crowley pulled Halt into a warm and comforting embrace when he heard about it, and Halt felt the corners of his mouth twitch up into a small smile. Crowley was his. He couldn’t let anybody hurt him. If they did, they would suffer.

“Hey, Crowley?” Samdash asked, and Halt quickly felt his brow darkening. Samdas'h had been acting strange these past few days, and Halt was unsure of what to do. He walked backwards, and he tripped over a log and fell, landing on his back, hitting it on a piece that stood out.

“Good job, Halt,” was Samdash’s sarcastic reply as Halt had cursed under his breath because he had felt a quick, but painful, burning in his back and then a warm trickle of blood.

“Thanks, I did my best,” Halt said, a warning glance at his saxe knife in his double-scabbard.

“What did you want, Samdash?” Crowley said, trying to prevent any severe bloodshed.

“Can you follow me, I wanted to do- I wanted to show you something.” Samdash quickly corrected himself, as he had almost said ‘I wanted to do some target practice’.

Crowley first frowned at his reworded sentence, but then continued on, following him.

Chapter 2

“So, what did you need me here for?” Crowley inquired of Samdash.

“I need you to stand right over there, by that tree.”

“O-Okay.” Crowley was confused and a little scared, but he listened anyway.

He watched as a far away Samdash pulled something from his pocket, and then threw it, seemingly towards him. He didn’t know what he threw. But Halt had been watching, and he knew what was about to transpire. He quickly ran for Crowley, but he couldn’t reach him in time and he knew it. He then heard Crowley say, “Sweet, free knife?” through clenched teeth. Halt quickly drew, aimed, and fired at Samdash, wincing as the cut that ran deep into his back throbbed again. The arrow impaled Samdash in the back, but not killing him. It was a headless arrow, but from this distance, with Halt’s new One Hundred-fifty pound longbow, it had ‘unfortunately’ breached the skin.

“Crowley, here, let me help.” Halt had said as he finished the run towards him.

Halt put a hand on the knife, and slowly pulled, keeping the knife straight, and it eventually slipped out. “AH!- Geez, Halt, Be gentle!” And then he realized what he had said, and apologized. “Sorry. I know you’re trying your best.”

“It’s fine, do you want to keep this knife?” 

“Sure. Why not. One less knife for Samdash. Now quickly, go get him.”

“Here, let me stitch you up. He won't be running anywhere anytime soon.” Halt quickly got down onto one knee, and looked at the wound in Crowley’s stomach. “He wasn’t aiming to kill...” Halt said to Crowley. “Although, maybe he was,” He said as he saw the slimy substance stuck onto the knife. He thoroughly cleaned the wound with the boiling water he was going to use for coffee, and then bandaged him up, and walked him to his own tent. “Rest.” He commanded.

“Yessir,” Crowley started slurring his words together as he laid down on the bed, closing his eyes.

Halt then left the tent, and headed for Samdash. 

Chapter 3

Samdash was face down in the dirt, groaning quietly. This was no ranger, this was a coward. A coward who had stabbed Crowley. He rolled him over after removing the arrow, and Samdash let out a gasp.

“Why would you do that?” Samdash asked

“I think I should be asking you that question,”

“And I think that I asked first,”

“I do believe I am the one that shot you,”

“Fair point…”

“So, Why did you do that?”

Silence.

“I said, why did you do that?”

More silence.

“Hm.” Halt said, as he pulled out a stricker.

“No no no- I’ll tell you!”

“Hurry up then. I don’t have all day.”

“I should’ve been commandant. I deserved it, after all, I found you guys camped, almost captured you all, but that pesky Egon had to get in the way. Hm. I’ll have to deal with him-”

“You’re not dealing with anyone. And, by the way, Almost doesn’t count, unfortunately,” Halt said, his voice full of dangerous sarcasm.

Halt then quickly hit him in the back of the head with the stricker, right behind the left ear, and carried him to the extra tent they had.

He realized that he might escape, so he pulled the throwing knife out of Samdash’s scabbard, and grabbed a rope, tied it around his own waist, then tied a knot around Samdash’s, and started climbing the tall tree that was in the middle of the gathering ground. He was nimble, and so that made climbing easier. He eventually reached a wide branch, and tied the knot at the other end of the rope around a higher branch, making sure that you couldn’t reach it from the one he was standing on. He then sat Samdash down, and re-tied a few knots, and made a rough harness. He then tied Samdash’s hands in front of him, gave him a few pieces of cold food, and slowly climbed back down the tree, but he slipped. He fell down, and landed on his arm. He heard a loud crack, and then felt a searing pain, and couldn’t help but gasp. He laid there for a moment, realizing what had happened.

“Anyone?!” He yelled, as loud as he could. He knew that all of the rangers were more than a mile away, so he had to be loud. He heard footsteps, sluggish, he noticed, and opened his eyes and saw Crowley. Almost all of the rangers, he noted. 

“What are you doing on the ground?”

“I can’t move my arm, Crowley. Think I broke it. I need help up”

“Hang on. I’ll go get Abelard.” Crowley knew that with his own wound, he couldn’t lift Halt up.

They arrived a few minutes later, and Halt went to put his arm around Abelard to sit up. Then he saw his arm.

The bone was just under the skin, trying to pierce it, and Halt saw that it was very quickly turning purple, and he saw it bleeding from the inside. He wasn’t normally squeamish, but this sight made him slightly lightheaded. He had never seen anything so- severe? 

He continued grabbing on to Abelard, and pulled himself up from sitting. “Thanks, Crowley.”

“You need to see Berrigan.” Berrigan had been known as a doctor throughout the corps, and he had practiced in severe bone breaks. “Why were you in the tree, anyway?”

“Why don’t you take a look yourself?”

Crowley was silent for a moment as he scanned the tree, and then he spotted Samdash, and laughed, but winced as the movement caused a ripple of pain through his freshly bandaged cut, and then the blood welled out of it.

“How long has he been out for?”

“About thirty minutes.”

“Well, I need to get back to resting, need help onto Abelard?”

“Please?”

“Sure,” Crowley said, and held out his hand so that Halt could get his feet into the stirrups and his butt onto the saddle. Halt then put his hand on the reins, and tried to pull himself up. He made it halfway, but then slowly slipped back down onto the ground.

He tried again, and again, and again, until Crowley finally decided that no matter the consequences, he would pick Halt up. Once Halt fell back onto the ground again, Crowley carefully slipped his hands around his waist and hoisted him up until he got into the correct position. He was glad that his face was red with effort, otherwise Halt would’ve seen how his cheeks were a bright pink. Halt was glad that his own face was red because of pain, for the same reason.

“Thanks…”

“You’re wel-”

“Hello?!” They heard Samdash’s Voice.

“Hi,” Halt yelled back.

“Why am I up here?” 

“Ask yourself that question. If you need more food, call me out of my tent, and don’t try jumping off.”

At that, in an act of spite, Samdash lunged himself off the edge, and grunted as the rope ran short and the harness tightened.

“I just told you to not do that,”

“Was worth a shot.”

“Well, Now you have to hang there. Have fun.”

And at that, Halt started for the practice ground, and Crowley headed for his own tent. 

Chapter 4

Halt reached the grounds a few minutes later, and requested Berrigan. He came to his aid almost immediately, re-aligning the bone and putting a bandage to hold it into place. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Halt headed back, and then carried Samdash back up to his branch, and sat him back down.

“Now, do it again, I’ll leave you there next time.”

Samdash decided that he wouldn’t.

Halt then climbed back down, carefully this time, and eventually reached the bottom.

Chapter 5

Halt stayed up late that night, having to constantly check on Samdash to make sure that he hadn’t jumped down again. He had brought Samdash some more food in the middle of the night, around one am, and he had finally fallen asleep at around three. He woke back up at six, tired, sore, and hungry. He made himself some coffee, and brought a cup to Crowley.

“Good Morning, Crowley,”

“Morning.”

Halt sat down next to Crowley, ruffled his long red hair, and started drinking his own coffee.

“How’d you sleep?” Halt questioned.

“Not well, admittedly. But I did manage to steal some of your Arridan Kafé.”

“Hey! Give it back, it was 200 Silver!”

“So they decided they didn’t want your gold?” Crowley said, smiling. He knew Arridans had no need for gold.

“Give it back!” And as Halt started to fumble through Crowley’s baggage, Crowley quickly grabbed it, and held it above his head.

“You want this?”

“You wouldn’t,” Halt said as Crowley slowly put his saxe knife up to the cloth containing the beans.

“Eh, it was worth an attempt,”

“Seriously, give it to me, maybe I’ll let you have a cup.” Halt said.

At that, Crowley very quickly gave the bag to Halt, and smiled. “How did you sleep?”

“I had to keep checking on Mr. Commandant in the tree.”

“So not very well, then?” Crowley asked.

“Of course not.”

“So, how is he?”

“He’s fine. Actually, let me go check in on him.”

At that, Halt got up and left the tent, he scanned the tree, and saw Samdash hanging out of it, just barely holding on.

“Let go, Samdash.”

Chapter 6

Samdash let go, and Halt caught him, although he was tempted to let him hit the ground.

“So, how did you break your harness?”

“Not telling,” Samdash said, and as he said it, he assured himself that he really wouldn’t.

“Hm.” Halt said, pulling out his saxe knife and admiring it. The action really wasn’t that necessary, other than to scare him.

“No, nice try, Halt. You can’t stab me because I’m valuable.”

“Valuable? You really think that I wouldn’t stab you? I would stab you, in fact, you are almost asking to be stabbed.”

“Woah there, you want to stab your prisoner, now I’m pretty sure that’s murder.”

“Who said it would be a killing stab? Maybe just enough to be pretty painful. After all, you did stab Crowley in the stomach, with a poisoned blade.”

“Okay, okay. I rubbed it against the tree,” Samdash lied.

“No, you didn’t.”

“How would you know?”

“Because it would take three days to do that, I’ve tried.”

“You’ve tried? No, I don’t think so, in what context would you rub a rope against a tree for three days?”

“When you are trying to find a rope that doesn’t break. That was my assignment a year ago.”

Samdash seemed to have accepted that answer.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, at a cost.”

“What’s the cost?” 

“Hm, how about you bring Crowley out, and I get to speak with him?”

“No, I don’t think I can do that.”

Halt started re-tying the rope, and that's when he realized that he had just untied the harness, and he had untied it from the tree. Simple enough to fix, just make the knots around the back, and re-tie the bounds for his hands. 

Halt was suddenly startled because Samdash coughed right into his face. He tried to prevent it from hitting his face, but Samdash had pushed himself extremely close. 

“Oh, wow. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it.” Halt said, with heavy sarcasm.

“No problem, Oh, by the way, I’m sick, and it’s highly contagious.”

“Well, I guess it’s time to get you back in that tree.” Halt said, as he hit Samdash in the head with a stricker. Samdash went limp, and Halt started the ascent. 

Every now and then he would get a flair of pain through his arm, but when it happened, he just stood there for a moment, until it passed. He couldn’t push himself, otherwise he would be stuck in bed the entire time he was sick, waiting for the arm to heal.

They finally reached the long branch, and Halt proceeded to put a light sedative in Samdash’s drink. 

He set him down, and tied the knot to the tree a little higher, where Samdash would have to climb the tree a little to get to it.

Halt got down, and sat on the ground. He coughed. 

“Oh, great. This is just great.”

Chapter 7

The next morning Halt accidentally slept in, and only woke up because Crowley was frantically shaking him, shouting, “Halt wake up! Please, can you wake up? We’re in a bit of an emergency right now!”

He stood up, a little too fast, and he swayed.

“Wha’s wrong?” He asked, not quite able to speak properly.

“Oh, I was yelling that because you wouldn’t wake up, I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“Oh, well, Samdash coughed directly into my face yesterday, I think I’m a little sick, he said it was contagious, so you might not want to get in my face for a few days until it passes.”

“It might not ‘pass’ as you intend. You retched all over Berrigan last night, we thought it was just the ale, but apparently not. Poor Berrigan, it was all over him.”

“I was drinking?”

“Yes, you were drinking.”

“Last thing I remember I was sitting at the base of the tree where Samdash is. I must’ve drank a little too much.”

“You only had one cup,”

“Wait, What?!”

“Yeah, I know. You didn’t say anything to Berrigan after it happened, because you just collapsed. We all decided to just put you in your tent and let you sleep.”

“Oh, can I talk to Berrigan, please?”

“Are you sure? He was a little upset last night. He was so drunk he started crying. He was the one who drank too much.”

“Oh, and yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay, well, you wait here, I’ll go get Berrigan.”

“Okay,”

At that, Crowley left, and Halt had some time to think. He got up and paced. He wondered how he could’ve collapsed like that, and he assured himself it was because he was so nervous. After all, Berrigan could punch pretty hard.

Berrigan and Crowley arrived, and Halt instantly apologized to Berrigan.

“Hey, I’m really sorry about last night. I don’t even remember it.”

“No need to apologize, I don’t remember it either,” Berrigan said.

“Well, you might want to take some preventative measures just in case.”

“What do you mean, ‘preventative measures’?”

“I’m sick, and it’s contagious.”

“Oh, well, I guess I should, then. I haven’t gotten a cough, had a fever or nausea, so I think I’m alright.”

Halt sat down, as he got a sudden wave of nausea, and held his stomach.

“I’ll...Be right back. Berrigan, just make sure you’re careful.” 

“I will, y-”

Halt was already gone by the time Berrigan could speak.

“Crowley, I think we should keep an eye on him. I can’t do anything for him.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll keep an eye out. In fact, could you purchase a little metal trash can so he can stay in bed?”

“That sounds great! Well, I’d best get to it. Stay safe, Crowley.”

“I will.”

Chapter 8

Halt was in the woods, laying down on the cool forest floor. He had a terrible headache, it felt like his head was hit by a cannonball at full force. 

Crowley had stood there for a second, and decided he would look for Halt. He followed his tracks, and found him on the cold ground.

“Halt, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Halt said, stubborn because he didn’t want to look weak in front of Crowley.

“No, sorry. I can’t allow you to be stubborn, Halt.”

“I’m fine.”

“You are not fine, you have a broken arm, you’re sick, I’ve been stabbed, and you decide to lay down on the cold ground. This gathering has been a disaster for you.”

Halt curled up in a ball, his hands on his stomach. He felt horrible, that’s true, but he still couldn’t show weakness. 

“Halt? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Halt said. He shivered.

“Aw, here, you can use my cloak. You must be freezing.” Crowley said.

Crowley stood there, decided he would make sure Halt was okay, and that he didn’t care what happened to himself.

Halt came back, Crowley’s cloak wrapped around him. His hair was wet, but Crowley’s cloak was dry. Crowley went up to Halt and hugged him. He picked him up and winced as his stab wound flared. The pain went away for a moment, and then it started bleeding. He continued carrying Halt to the campsite, and laid him down on his sleeping roll. 

“Halt, you go to sleep, Berrigan left to go buy a trash can for you. Don’t worry, I’ll be here, right next to you the whole time. If not, I’ll be right in front of the tent,” Crowley said.

“Ok.”

Crowley sat outside of the tent once Halt fell asleep, and drank some ale. Berrigan finally got back, and set the trash bin inside of Halt’s tent.

“How much was it?” Crowley asked him.

“Oh, Only 10 silver.”

Crowley then handed him the money, and Berrigan sat down next to Crowley.

“Want some ale?”

“Sure!”

They both sat there, drinking, for hours into the night. Every few hours Crowley went into Halt’s tent, checking on him.

Will had been on guard duty, but now that the new guard came, he went and sat down with Crowley. 

“Hey, where have you been?” Crowley asked.

“I was on an assignment you put me on, remember? I had to deal with the brigades in the North,”

“Oh, yeah!”

At that point, Will realised Crowley was very drunk. Usually Crowley was able to stop before he got drunk because his hangovers were worse lately, but apparently something was bothering him. 

“Hey, where is Halt?”

“Oh, you mean Mr. Handsome, he is in that tent, asleep.” Crowley let out a burst of laughter at the name he called Halt.

“Mr. Handsome?” Will asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, he’s handsome.” Berrigan chipped in.

“Hey, he’s mine, don’t you take him!” Crowley seemed suddenly scared that Halt was to be stolen.

“Hey, now that I think about it, Halt did say something about you being adorable when you’re drunk, Crowley,” Will said as he took up his own cup and poured a glass. He didn’t have anything to do tomorrow.

“He did?!” Crowley seemed excited.

“Yes, he did!” Will said.

“Hey, could you go get another bottle of ale?” Berrigan asked Will.4

Will quickly left and got the bottle of ale. Halt stepped out of his tent, seeming to have more color in his cheeks.

“Hey, Halt! Have a cup of ale!” Crowley suggested.

“Crowley, you’re drunk.”

“Didn’t you say I was adorable when I was drunk?” 

Halt blushed at that.

“Maybe.”

Halt grabbed a cup, and at that moment, Will came back with a stronger ale.

“Hey, Will, How was that assignment, did you get hurt at all, are you okay?” Halt said, being the dad he was.

“I’m fine, here, have some!” Will said as he poured Halt a glass of wine.

They were all drunk by 9 in the evening, except Will. He didn’t want to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, so he drank a little less. He was still drunk, but not as drunk as Crowley.

“Hey, Halt, I dare you to kiss Crowley!” Berrigan suggested.

“Why not! He is the adorable one who is going to be groaning about his stomach!”

And so they both kissed.

“You know, I’m going to be the one who remembers this tomorrow, I’m not that drunk.”

“Nah, you are pretty drunk, Will.”

Gilan joined them an hour later, after he was let out of guard duty.

“Hey big bro,” Will said, completely drunk.

“I swear, you are all little children, can’t leave you with ale.”

“Nah, watch, we won’t have a hangover tomorrow!” Will said, hinting to Halt.

“I highly doubt that,”

“Sit down! We’ll have some fun! We’re playing truth or dare! Halt kissed Crowley earlier! Those two finally realised the other loved them!”

“Oh boy, they’ll love to hear about that in the morning.”

And so Gilan sat down, but didn’t drink ale, he had brought his own coffee.

Chapter 9

It was morning time, and Gilan woke up. He realised that he had also gotten drunk. 

“My head…” He groaned.

“Oh, hey you, you’re finally awake,” (hehe sneaky skyrim reference) 

Gilan thought the voice was familiar. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”. Gilan was silent for a few moments, and then he realised the voice was Halt’s. “Wait, you mean you don’t have a hangover?!”

“Nope, no hangover. You and Crowley were the only ones who got one.”

“Wait, what time is it?”

“It’s 5 in the afternoon. Crowley is in the main tent, drinking coffee.”

“Ugh. I’m so tired.”

“You did finally go to bed at like, 7 in the morning.”

“I’m going to the woods to practice.”

“Have fun.”

Gilan left, he grabbed his bow and went to practice.

Crowley was in the commandment tent, face on the table, groaning about his head.

Crowley huffed. “Is the day over yet?”

“Almost, Crowley. It’s like, 5:30.”

“I’m out of coffee,” He complained.

Halt had remembered his promise, and he ‘happened’ to bring a cup of Arridan kafé. “Here, how about this?” Halt asked.

Crowley perked up at the sight of it. His mood soared. “Thanks Halt! Oh hang on, I need to go see Berrigan, it’s time for my bandage to be changed.”

“I can do that for you,” Halt said, slightly jealous.

“Sure! One less long trip for me!” As he said it, he stood up and they went to Halt’s tent.

“All right, well, let me get my bandages from my bag…”

Halt rummaged through his bag and eventually found the bandages. He started to boil some water. He had been feeling a bit better since the previous night.

“Alright, lay down on your back for me, please,”

“Sure,” Crowley said, and he laid down on his back, carefully pulling up his shirt so Halt could change the bandage. He noticed Halt was blushing, and then he realised he was blushing himself. Halt took off the bandage and saw how well the wound was doing. 

“It’s looking good, keep taking care of it!” Halt said.

“That won’t be a problem,” Crowley smiled as he said it.

“That’s good. Well, Here’s your cup of coffee, hang out here for a while. I’ll take over for some of your paperwork, except for the signatures, those are for you.” Halt said, as he remembered the first time they met, and he had forged Morgarath’s seal.

“No forging this time? I thought you liked that kind of stuff,” Crowley said, remembering the same thing.

“No forging this time.” Halt smiled. It was the first time he had felt this happy since his divorce. He left the tent, and bumped into Will on the way to Crowley’s workplace.

“Oh, hey Halt! Are we still pretending to not have hangovers so Gilan would feel jealous? My head is killing me.”

“Yes, we are, and mine is too. The day is almost over, so you don’t have much longer to go, we can do it.”

“Okay,” Will said, raising an eyebrow.

Halt gave him a rare smile, and went to the command tent. He sat down and started on Crowley’s paperwork. The paperwork towered over two feet high. He sighed. “This is going to be a long night,”

Chapter 10

In the morning, Will felt better. He and Halt had this tradition that everytime they drank, they had to hide the fact that they were sick the next day. They let Berrigan in on it, just to mess with Gilan and Crowley.

Halt and Crowley started packing to head back to their feifs, when Halt suddenly screamed in pain. Crowley looked behind Halt and saw Samdash, or well, he looked a little different than Samdash, twisting a knife that was in Halt’s back, it was glowing red, like it had been held over a fire.

Crowley stood up and took action. He stopped because Halt’s screams suddenly went quiet. The other Ranger’s went into Halt’s tent, and they cornered Samdash.

Everyone stood still. Suddenly Samdash was being hit in the back of the head with a stricker all while somebody else punched him in the solar plexus. (Crowley’s signature move)

“Halt,” Crowley said. “Halt, you have to wake up,” He started crying. “Halt, please, wake up, this isn’t funny.”

“Crowley, step back, we need to sew Halt up. Luckily, Samdash wasn’t smart enough to remember that heat seals veins. He probably just passed out from pain, He didn’t lose any blood, He is okay.”

Crowley was crying. He hadn’t ever heard such a heart-wrenching scream. He looked at Samdash. He had been able to get a good punch in, but that wasn’t near enough.

“I’ll take Samdash somewhere secluded. I’ll be right back.” Suddenly, Crowley’s emotions were gone. Berrigan got nervous, it had been a while since he saw Crowley do that. Last time it was not good. Five people died.

He picked up Samdash and carried him out to the middle of the forest. “Hm. What do I do now…” He picked about twenty flowers, and started making a flower crown. He realised he should have Samdash tied up, and just as Samdash had hoped, Crowley got up and left.

Samdash stood up. He grabbed his knife and headed for Crowley.

Crowley knew that Samdash was faking, so he had climbed a tree and awaited Samdash’s ‘revival’. He wasn’t too high in the tree, and he had a tripwire set on the ground. He would get revenge for Halt.

Samdash tripped over the tripwire, and, as hoped, he reached out for something to grab. Crowley put out his hand and Samdash gratefully took it. Then Crowley didn’t let go. He proceeded to pull Samdash up the tree by only his hand until he heard a loud crack, and Samdash quietly cursed him out. He had dislocated his wrist.

“That was for Halt,” he said. 

Then Crowley twisted his wrist while grabbing his arm, causing even more pain.

“And that was for me,” he said as he dropped Samdash.

Samdash promptly fell, and Berrigan caught him. “Crowley, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I er...um...I was getting...some quality time with Samdash.”

“Crowley, get down here.” Another voice said, and it sounded very angry. 

“Samdash, be quiet, or I’ll break your arm.” Berrigan thought Samdash sounded a little different.

Samdash quickly shut up.

“All right, Crowley, come on down.”

Crowley was silent, not wanting to come down out of the tree as if nothing bad could happen to him while he was up there.

Suddenly, Crowley jumped out of the tree and put his hand out while Samdash tried to stab Berrigan. He then ripped Samdash out of a very stunned Berrigan’s hands, and pinned him to the tree, a knife to his throat. Berrigan came to his senses and aimed a bow at Samdash’s chest.

“Hurt one more person, Samdash. Just one, and I will not hesitate to stab you this time. But for now, we are headed to play a game. Berrigan, you stay here. I got Mr. Commandant here.”

“Crowley, your hand?”

“I’m fine.”

“No, I meant you’re choking Samdash.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to lift him up. It’ll be hard if he is still awake. It’s only to knock him out efficiently.”

“If you aren’t careful, you’ll kill him.”

At that moment, Samdash went limp. Crowley let go, and he fell to the ground. Berrigan then left, because he had to tend to Halt. He was a little worried at first, but then he realised that Crowley probably wouldn’t kill him...Although, last time….He didn’t want to finish the thought.

“So, Samdash, tell me, who do you work for?”

No reply.

“Samdash, Samdash, Samdash….” Crowley said, repeating his name. “Now you’ve gotten me mad, and trust me, you don’t want me mad.”

Still no reply. Crowley kicked him in the stomach, and eventually, he decided that he really was passed out. He started dragging him and then put him on his back. He then climbed a tree, and wrapped a rope around his waist. He tied the other end onto Samdash’s waist. He dumped Samdash off the edge of the tree, holding on to his part of the tree with only his fingertips. 

“Let’s decide on a game. How about we play the game ‘Who can hold on the longest’. I mean, usually I’d win immediately, but now I can see that you are holding on to a branch. So, lets see. How can I get you to let go?”

“You won't be able to, murderer.” Samdash said, and then he coughed. Blood dripped from his mouth.

“Hm, maybe just a light tug on the rope could make me win,” He said, and then pulled the rope up and Samdash eventually had to let go. When he did, Crowley suddenly dropped the rope, and it went tight.

“Well, I guess that does it,” He said. He let go of the tree, and untied the rope from around his own waist. He then tied it against the tree, so that Samdash is hanging about an inch from the ground.

He jumped out of the tree, a smile on his face. He was angry. He went to the tree right next to him and started punching it. His knuckles bled, his hand started bleeding again, but eventually, his anger relented, for the moment. A slight incident would cause it to spike. He walked to his tent and patched up his knuckles. It wasn’t the first time that this had happened, and so Berrigan knew what went on. 

“Crowley, can I come in?” Berrigan asked, cautiously.

“Ah, Berrigan, come on in!”

Berrigan came in, confused because of Crowley’s cheerful voice. He then felt a tremor of fear tingle down his spine.

“Crowley, you didn’t kill him, did you?”

“No, I most certainly did not, that would make me like him! I simply….caused some damage.”

“Crowley, where is he?”

“Hm, you don’t believe me, do you? Well follow me.”

Crowley then led him to where he left Samdash. He was still hanging there.

“Crowley, you do realise that that prevents him from breathing properly, right?”

“I said I caused damage, not that I cared what type of damage I caused.”

Berrigan started panicking, the last time this happened was when Pritchard was murdered by Morgarath’s army. He went on a rampage and killed over a quarter of Morgarath’s army.

“Crowley, nothing you can do will bring Pritchard back,”

There it was. The incident that pushed Crowley over the edge.

Crowley then took a step closer to Berrigan.

“Berrigan, nothing you do, will stop me from trying.”

Berrigan then realised that this was a serious situation. 

“Crowley, remember what happened last time?”

“I do not recall a last time,”

“You killed a quarter of Morgaraths army. Now, don’t you go killing people again. Otherwise, Halt will have to stop you.”

Crowley took a step back, but lowered his voice.

“Do not mention Halt in front of me. He is dead. His screams stopped. The knife was into him down to the hilt.” Crowley said, pulling his knife out and pointing it at Berrigan, shaking.

“Would he want you to do this?” Berrigan said, not wanting to point out that Halt was awake when he had left, for fear of what might happen to him.

“Didn’t I just say to not mention him?” He said, bringing the knife a little closer.

“Crowley, you don’t have to do this,” Berrigan said.

He seemed to realise something, then disregard it.

“Crowley, you could lose your job. Remember what Pritchard used to say?”

“SHUT UP!” Crowley yelled. “I COULDN’T SAVE HIM! IT’S ALL MY FAULT!” Crowley had tears streaming down his face.

The other rangers came, and saw Crowley pointing the knife at Berrigan.

“Crowley, come on, Pritchard wouldn’t want you blaming yourself,” Gilan pointed out.

“Gilan…” Crowley smiled at him. “Pritchard isn’t here to want or not want anything, and that’s my fault. I could’ve saved him.” His voice cracked.

Gilan seemed freaked out. He hadn’t seen Crowley like this before.

“Dad,” Gilan called Crowley. “You can’t do this, you’d be abandoning me,”

“Don’t use that against me!” Crowley’s face was red with anger. He put the knife closer to Berrigan.

“You know what, I’ll be right back,” Crowley said, and he just left. He just left like nothing happened.

“Gilan, I know what you’re thinking. Do not follow him. I have a feeling that there will be a mass decrease in the bandit population pretty soon.” He didn’t want to say what he really thought. ‘A mass decrease in Crowley’s enemies’ population’ which also meant Samdash and himself.

“Hm.” Halt said, appearing from behind a terrified Will.

“Halt, don’t you dare, we can’t have you losing control too.”

But Halt was already gone.

He followed Crowley’s tracks and found Crowley smiling to himself.

Halt headed back, having the information he needed now.

“Halt, why would you-”

“Shut up. He wouldn’t kill me, Berrigan.”

Crowley’s condition had triggered something similar in Halt. Berrigan realised it was already too late. He needed to come up with something.

“Halt, come on now, we both know what we have to do.”

“No. I refuse.”

“Halt, come on. He almost killed Samdash!”

“And Samdash almost killed me”

“Halt. This is no time for technicalities.”

“Hm. I am not going to trap my friend, my soon to be husband.” Halt mumbled the last part.

He left the camping grounds and headed for Araluen on Abelard. “Dang, Crowley is worse than last time. Last time he managed his anger better, he never threatened one of the Araluen Kingdom. He is a lot worse.” Halt said to himself.

He reached Castle Araluen a day later, and was immediately accepted into King Duncan’s quarters. 

“Duncan. Crowley is at it again,”

“What do you mean, he is at it aga- No, you don’t mean?”

“Yes. It’s worse this time, he held a knife to Berrigan, and didn’t even react to almost killing somebody,”

“Who did he almost kill?” Duncan said, panicked.

“Samdash. Although, Samdash did try to kill him and then literally stabbed me in the back.”

“Oh my god. Are you okay?” 

“I’m..well, I’ve never felt such a pain as a knife that’s been held over a fire stuck in my back, being twisted. But other than that, I’m fine.”

“Does he know that you’re fine?”

“About that…..no. He doesn’t.”

“Halt! You know better than to just let him rampage!”

“Duncan,” Halt said, forgetting formality, “I was scared of him. He said, and I quote, ‘Pritchard isn’t here to want or not want anything,’ After Gilan asked him if Pritchard would’ve wanted him to blame himself.”

“Dear lord. Halt, do you know what he is going to do?”

“Hm. Let’s see, He’ll probably come back late tonight and kill Samdash. Then again, he might have already done that.”

Three knocks on the door.

“What would you like,” Duncan called out.

“Well, we um, we have some bad news.”

“Come on in, let’s hear it.”

“Ranger Samdash has been brutally murdered.”

“Uhm, could you let me and Ranger Halt talk this out for a moment, thank you for your news.”

“Oh, Uh, Sure!”

They handed him the file and then left.

“Halt.” Duncan said, a serious tone. “It says here he was stabbed multiple times, hung upside-down by his ankles, and his arms broken. Who do you think could have done this?”

They were both silent as they realised the answer.

“I’m going to send out search parties, we can’t have him on the loose.”

“Don't,” Halt said, a dangerous tone in his voice. He was angry. In fact, Duncan hadn’t ever seen him this angry.

“Halt O’Carrick. Get that tone out of your mouth. He killed someone.” He said, nervously.

“I said that because your search parties would get murdered. Either that or they would kill Crowley. I can’t let either happen. I won’t let either happen.”

“Fine then, you go out and find him, do you know who his next target might be?”

“Berrigan.” Halt said, in a concerned tone.

Chapter 11

Halt arrived at the Gathering ground and found a panicked group of people.

“Who found him?” Halt asked.

“You’re back!”

“What, you think I’d be dead, Berrigan? You really have to have faith in me.”

“Where did you go?” Berrigan thought that he could risk another question.

“My question answered first. Who found him?”

“Will.”

Halt was angry. “Why would you let Will see that?” Halt said, dangerously close to Berrigan. He was awfully quiet. 

“Where is Will? ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!” Halt suddenly started yelling. 

“Will is in his tent, he hasn’t left there since last night when he found Samdash.” “Geez, why am I the only one getting targeted. These people really don’t like me,” He added to himself.

Halt left, and ran for Will’s tent. When he arrived, he saw a scared Will, sitting in the corner, mumbling to himself.

“Crowley would never hurt me. Crowley would never hurt me. Crowley would never hurt me.” Will chanted to himself.

“Will, look at me.” He said as he gently turned a tear-stained face toward him.

Will suddenly cried out, as if terrified of touch.

“Will, it’s just me, Halt, okay? I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Dad!” Will said, as he launched himself at Halt, crying into his shoulder.

“Will, Crowley isn’t himself. He still wouldn’t hurt you, you aren’t his enemy. In fact, I don’t think he remembers you. He barely remembered Gilan the other night. He just knows that somebody hurt him, and he is angry. You have nothing to worry about, okay?”

“Halt…” That was all Will was able to say. His voice cracked and muffled itself against his cloak. Halt pulled him closer.

“I hate to ruin the moment,” Berrigan interrupted, “but Crowley is here.”

“Will, stay here, don’t let anyone in your tent.”

“Ok,” 

Halt ran out of the tent, and there stood Crowley.

“Crowley, looks like you’ve finally reached that point again. Remember what fixed it last time?”

“What do you mean, you were dead, Halt, I’m seeing things. It isn’t really you.”

“Oh, Crowley.” Halt said as he walked closer to him. He pulled Crowley into a hug.

“Hm. That worked last time, why are you still so tense?” He lied. He didn’t really want Crowley to come back to his senses. Usually that meant that he would have to, as well.

“Oh! I know what to do!” Halt said suddenly.

“Wha-” All of the sudden Crowley’s voice was cut off by a quick kiss from Halt.

“Now, will you please come to your senses? I really don’t want to have to be the one to kill you.”

“No. You aren’t real. Halt is dead.”

“Oh boy, looks like I have to knock you out. Now now, I won’t kill you.” Halt said as he quickly hit him in the head with a stricker.

“Now, All of you, clear this place out. Let me go get Will, do not let Will or Gilan get hurt. Crowley couldn’t make it through that. Nor could I,” He added, to himself as he remembered that he had helped kill Morgarath’s army when Crowley went on a rampage last time. Nobody else knew that he had the same problem as Crowley, and whenever Crowley had it triggered, he was triggered as well.

He pulled Crowley to a nearby log and sat him up against it.

“Will, it’s me, Halt. You can come out now. Just stay with Gilan, okay? He will protect you. I promise.”

“Okay…”

Will gathered up his stuff and left the tent. He ran to Gilan and then Gilan picked him up and set him on Tug.

“So, Crowley, you can stop pretending to sleep.”

“Halt, I don’t want to realise you’re real. The real Halt would probably hate me for killing Samdash.”

“Actually, I was going to do it myself. Call it an ‘accident in battle’. You aren’t crazy, Crowley. You’re suffering. We both are.”

“Halt...Please, tell me you meant everything you just said.”

“Now now, I wouldn’t lie to you.” Halt said as he brushed a piece of long, red, hair out of Crowley’s face.

“Halt, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have killed him, although I don’t remember doing it, I really sho-” 

“Shhhh. Crowley, I couldn’t care less that you killed that man. As long as you don’t try to kill Berrigan.”

“I promise.”

“Now, Remember last time, when I helped you kill some of Morgarath’s army? Do you want to do something like that again?”

“What about bandits this time? It’s not like there is anybody like Morgarath around.” Crowley suggested.

“That sounds great! Now, we’d best get going before someone notices our plan.”

They left but something felt off.

“Crowley?”

“Yeah, Halt?”

“You don’t plan on killing anyone else, do you? I won’t judge, maybe I’ll help you!”

“I was planning to kill- you promise you won’t judge?”

“I promise.”

“I was planning to kill Meralon.”

“Okay, tell me your reasoning.” Halt asked, even though he knew he was already going to do it.

“He climbed the tree the night Samdash stabbed you. I think it was him that set him free.”

“Fair enough reasoning, but are you sure you are going to go through with this? You could- no, you will lose your job. Crowley, look me in the eyes and tell me you are sure, because I’m likely to lose my job as well.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay, well, lets go speak to him, okay? See his reasoning for freeing Samdash.”

Crowley stopped breathing.

“Crowley, you okay? Look at me.”

“Can't...breathe..”

“Okay, lay down, I got you, okay?”

Crowley laid down on his back and Halt saw something he had been eating. It had some strange residue on it.

It had been poisoned.

“Crowley, listen, who gave that to you?”

“Mera…..lon”

“Well, That proves our point.”

Halt administered a ‘one size fits all’ antidote, and Crowley started breathing again.

“Crowley, I don’t think we need to murder him. I think we can let his own actions do that.”

That was when Crowley finally came to his senses.

“Wait, who? We were going to kill somebody?”

Halt smiled. But in truth, he was sad because he knew it was only a matter of time before he came back.

“Oh, Crowley.”

“It happened again?!”

“Yes, don’t worry, you only killed one Ranger this time.”

“Oh, good. Wait, Who was it?!”

“Samdash.”

“Aw, man. I kinda liked him.”

“He stabbed you and tried to kill me.”

“I forgot about that part.”

(Previously Crowley was suspected to have had Killed 5 Rangers, them being Ranger #6, #9, #28, #4, and #1, They were all Morgarath’s fakes. Just for this fanfiction)

Chapter 12

“So, Crowley, you are sure Meralon gave you that?” Duncan asked. Duncan had noticed something off in Halt.

“I’m sure. I don’t remember much, but the longer I wait, the more I remember. I remember that I saw someone sneak into the grounds and take Samdash from his tent.”

They all shared a look.

“So you still don’t remember killing Samdash?” Halt asked what was on both his and Duncan’s mind.

“No. I remember his scream. It was suddenly cut short, though. I remember it was dark. But I don’t remember ever killing him.”

Duncan eyed Halt, and nodded.

“Crowley, you’re free to go. One last question, though. What did the person taking Samdash out of his tent say to Samdash?”

“Vaguely, I think he said, ‘I need pay,’.”

“Okay, Crowley, who do you think it sounded like?”

“...Meralon.”

“Okay. You are free to go. Try not to let it happen again.”

Then Halt went to leave with Crowley, but Duncan stopped him.

“Halt. I have a few questions for you, too.”

“Okay, what are they?” Halt asked, sitting down.

“Why were you going to go along with Crowley’s plan?”

“I wasn’t really going to, I was just waiting for him to come to his senses. We all know he would never kill anyone. Not counting after the war.”

“So, you weren’t really going to kill Meralon?”

“I was.”

“You what?!”

“You understand love, don’t you?”

“Yes, but how is that even relevant?”

“It wasn’t Samdash that stabbed me. Samdash is smart enough to not use heat on a knife. Also, they twist it towards the side their dominant hand is on. Samdash is right handed, but they twisted it to the left, and it just so happens that Meralon is left-handed. Therefore, it is Meralon’s fault that Crowley did it again”

“You’re sure of this?”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I’m not sure.”

“You’re right, all right,” Duncan sighed heavily, “You’re free to go.”

Then he stepped out of the king’s quarters and found Crowley.

“Hey, Crowley?”

“Yes, what do you need?”

“I promise I’ll help you faster next time.”

“Okay.”

~-~-~-~-~-Page Break-~-~-~-~-~

That night, Meralon killed the search parties that were after him. He was a criminal now, and there was no getting out of it. He had stabbed Halt for Samdash, but Samdash had refused to pay him, so then he murdered Samdash.

He knew that they would send real Rangers after him. Not ones like Samdash, either. But because of Crowley’s ‘little’ outburst, they couldn’t send him. Then there was the problem of Gilan. He was the best unseen mover in the corps. He was probably being kept safe by Crowley, though.

He heard something. It was behind him. He pretended to drink his coffee, but kept listening in that direction, blocking out all other hearing. That was his mistake. Five ranger’s jumped out from in front of him, three on each side, and two behind him. They quickly grabbed his wrists, ankles and his waist. 

“So, you finally found me. Good job.”

“We know what you did,” Berrigan started.

“Where did he go?!” Another ranger asked, ‘panicked’.

“Oh, stop being sarcastic. You know I can’t move,”

“Hm. So, what’s your reason for trying to kill Crowley?”

“What? I haven’t tried. I was going to, tonight.”

“You mean you didn’t try to poison him?”

“What do you mean, poison him? You mean the food I gave him? It was just a biscuit.”

“It had poison on it. Come on, now. Stop pretending like you didn’t know.”

“Well, I guess I’m caught now.”

Then the rangers all took him to Araluen and Duncan had him banished for treason. Crowley was back to his normal self, but Halt wasn’t. Crowley noticed something different in Halt, so he decided to send him on a mission with Gilan.

They left the next morning, and Gilan noticed that Halt kept to himself. He seemed easily upset, and that reminded him of Crowley.

“Halt, tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Hm.” Halt grunted.

“Fine then, keep your secrets.”

Halt then spotted something, or well, at least pretended to. “Gilan, stay here,” He whispered as he sneakily walked away.

He wandered off, keeping track of where he was going. He had found out that Meralon was here, after all, they were out of Araluen. He spotted a campsite, and went inside. It was around midnight, so nobody would see him.

He went into the small tent and found just who he was looking for.

“Wake up, Meralon. This game is over.”

Meralon woke up, and Halt proceeded to stab him with his knife. This way he wasn’t attacking an unconscious body.

He didn’t kill him, just stabbed him in the stomach.

“So, tell me why you tried to poison Crowley, Meralon? You know what happens when I’m like this. I won’t regret killing you.”

“I did it because I wanted you to notice me,”

“So you poison the one I love? Now that’s unforgivable. But, I guess, you did tell the truth. So I’ll make it quick.” He said.

Meralon grabbed his knife and then stabbed Halt, right in the chest.

“Thank you, Meralon. Now I can’t hurt anyone else,” Halt said as the blood poured out of the wound.

Gilan had followed Halt, and now he ran for the tent and quickly grabbed Halt and pulled him out of the tent. 

“Halt, how many times do I have to tell you, no murdering.” Gilan said as he sighed, tears falling down his cheeks.

“Apparently too many,” Halt whispered.

“Halt, hold on for Crowley,” Gilan said as he did his best to patch up the wound in Halt’s chest.

Halt smiled.

“Keep Crowley out of trouble, Gilan.”

“Halt. Please don’t leave us.”

“Aw man, now I’m going to have to break your heart a second time.”

“Halt,” Gilan said.

But there was no response from Halt’s smiling body.

“Halt?”

“Stay strong, Gilan.” Halt was able to mumble before he ‘passed’.

Gilan’s body was rapidly cooling down. He lost all of his color.

“Halt, I promise.” Gilan said, to put himself at peace.

He then stood up, and he knew that Halt was gone. He took a step towards Meralon, absolute fury in his movements. He then sat at Meralon’s fire, holding his saxe knife above it. When it was glowing red, he stabbed Meralon with it, then he pulled that knife out and stabbed him in the heart with his throwing knife.

“I won’t let Crowley get hurt.” He knew he meant it. He picked up Halt and carried him to Abelard. 

Abelard didn’t react. Gilan was extremely surprised at that. He tied Halt to Abelard and picked up camp. He put out the fire and tied Halt’s stuff to his saddle. He took out Halt’s saxe knife, and cleaned it. It was his now. He then rode back to Araluen fief. He made it there in less than two hours, after all, they were at the border of Picta.

“I need to see Crowley,” Gilan said, carrying Halt.

“Is Ranger Halt okay?”

Gilan didn’t answer him.

They quickly reached Crowley’s room shortly after.

Gilan thought that he didn’t have the right to look at Crowley.

“Who did this?”

“Meralon. But I dealt with him already.”

“Gilan, look at me. I have an important question.”

Gilan shamefully lifted his head and looked at him.

“Did Abelard react to Halt?”

Gilan shook his head.

Crowley then smiled. He knew Halt was fine, or at least, would be.

“Okay, Halt. We know you’re going to be okay.”

No reaction from Halt. That’s when Crowley felt that something was off. He shook Halt, and still no reaction. 

“Okay, Gilan, I’m going to need you to put him down for a second. Just lay him down on the floor.”

Gilan did what he was told.

Crowley started doing chest compressions on Halt, and he opened his eyes. 

“Ow, Crowley, I’m okay now.” Halt said. His heart had been beating, just at an irregular rhythm and he was breathing, he was just unconscious. 

“Halt, I had to carry you up all of these stairs, and we all thought you were dead.”

“Sorry about that,” Halt said, his sarcasm back now.

Gilan and Crowley both sighed at the same time.

“You never change, do you?” Crowley asked as he handed Halt his saxe knife back, Gilan had given it to him.

Halt smiled. “You all panic, so you don’t realise I was stabbed on my right side, not the side my heart is on.”

Gilan frowned. 

“Here, let me check and make sure,” Crowley said.

Halt laughed, then winced. It still hurt, no matter what part of his body it was on. “Oh, Crowley. You never change. Always falling in love with idiots like me,”

Crowley smiled. “That just means that you’re my idiot.”

Halt smirked. “And you’re my idiot.” I’m tired of pretending that I’m grumpy, because now I’m happy, Halt thought.

“I wish this could last forever,” Halt said.

“Me too,” Crowley agreed.

“I think I should go.” Gilan said.

“No, Gilan. One last thing, I made something for you.” Halt asked Gilan to go fetch his saddlebag for him. 

Gilan brought it back to Halt, and Halt sat up to open it up. He pulled out something wrapped in Gilan’s favorite color. He handed it to him, and Gilan opened it up.

It was a beautiful sword, with his Ranger Number engraved on the hilt made of ebony wood, and instead of a regular fingerguard, his was made so it curled upwards at the edges so that other swords would get caught in it.

“Oh, wow, Halt!”

“What, did I do something wrong? I made the metal like we do with saxe knives,”

“No, nothing is wrong with it, it’s just beautiful!”

“Oh, uh, thanks. It took about a week,”

Gilan smiled as he saw a handprint engraved into the hilt. “What’s this for?”

“It uh, It was your handprint from when you painted your hand and left handprints all over my cabin. I saved one of them and transferred it onto a piece of wood, and I eventually turned it into a hilt for a sword.”

“Gilan did that?” Crowley asked, surprised.

“Uh, yeah, I was…”

“He was troublesome at first. He didn’t like all of the chores,” Halt explained.

“I was going to say rebellious, but that works too.”

They all smiled, and Gilan took out his sword that was in its sheath and switched them.

Someone knocked on the door. “Who is it?” Crowley asked.

“It’s Duncan,”

“Come on in,” Crowley answered.

Duncan walked in and saw Gilan holding his sword, and smiled. “Not trying to kill your king, are you now?”

Gilan hurriedly apologized and put his sword down. “Sorry, it’s just that Halt gave me a new sword and I don’t know where I should put this one, I wasn’t trying to break the-”

“Gilan, I’m just teasing you. Oh, Halt, You’re here too?”

“Yes, I’m here too,” Halt said, flashing his first smile at Duncan.

“Well, Picta brought some news today, and I was wondering if you or Halt knew anything about this, because you two were on a mission there.”

“Hm, what’s it about?” Halt asked, hinting to Gilan to pretend to know nothing.

“Ex-Ranger Meralon has been murdered, in fact, he was stabbed, five times. Once with a knife that was put over a fire, the next was a Ranger Issued throwing knife, left inside of him. The guard escorting you to Crowley’s room noticed that your throwing knife was missing, Gilan. Any of you have anything to say about this?”

“I lost my throwing knife while in Picta, so it could’ve been mine. But then again, I lost it.”

Good job, Gilan, Halt thought.

“Halt, do you know anything? You seem to be seriously injured, you’re covered in blood,” Duncan said.

“I got into a little fight with somebody in Picta, they seemed to not want us there,”

“Hm. It is strange that the person was stabbed using the same tactic they used to stab you,” Duncan suggested.

“I don’t know why that is,” Halt said. Technically, they were telling the truth, just not the full truth.

“Alright, I guess I’ll have to have Ranger Halt question you,” Duncan said, by force of habit.

They all laughed as soon as Duncan realised his mistake.

“Hm, maybe I’ll just have to ask Crowley to do it,”

They continued laughing, acting as a normal person would if they were in the same situation. Duncan smiled.

“Sorry, I was wrong to assume it was you two,” Duncan said, and Gilan smiled.

“You have nothing to worry about, we don’t blame you, all of the clues point to us,” Gilan laughed as he said it.

Halt felt a little nervous at that answer, but he didn’t show it.

“Okay, well then, you guys are free to go, Halt, get better, okay? I have to have you ready to question people,” 

Halt laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?”

“Sorry, I’m a little lightheaded. Yes Sir,” He corrected.

Duncan accepted that answer. He noticed that the two seemed innocent, so he let them go.

As soon as he left, Halt let out a pent-up breath.

“Wait, you two didn’t really kill him, did you?” Crowley asked them.

“No, we didn’t kill him,” Halt added slight emphasis on the word ‘we’, just enough to not be heard from outside the door in case Duncan was listening, even though Halt knew he wasn’t.

“Both of you are grounded for lying to the King. You have to do my paperwork for today!”

“But you didn’t even hear the whole story!”

“Fine, tell it.”

“Well, I really did lose my knife in Picta, except, well, I lost it in Meralons back, because I forgot it and wondered where it was.”

“And I really did get into a fight and they really didn’t want me there, except I didn’t mention that it was Meralon.”

“You two, so tactical. Fine, you aren’t grounded.”

They both smiled, but their smiles disappeared as they heard someone open the door, without knocking.

“You two,” Duncan said roughly, “In my office.”

They looked at Crowley. “One second, Duncan, I have something to do while I’m still a Ranger.” Halt said.

He carefully stood up, and kissed Crowley. “I expect to see you in prison,” Halt said.

Crowley feigned a smile and promised. “Even though I doubt Duncan would put you in prison,”

They started the walk to Duncan’s office.

Chapter 13

They were worried. Halt had a plan of escape, and he hoped Gilan did too.

“Look, Duncan, He wasn’t unconscious when it happened, if that helps anything,” Halt said.

Duncan was angry, and he looked into the eyes of Halt. “One more excuse. You killed a man,” 

“To be fair,” Gilan started, “I was the one who killed him, because he had stabbed Halt in the chest, and yes, I heated the knife over the fire.”

“Okay, well, who threw the first punch?”

“Technically, there were no punches,” Halt interrupted.

“It was me. I did it,” Halt said, being truthful.

“You two, are so troublesome, this is the first time you’ve actually gone through with anything, Halt.”

“Well, I might as well tell you the truth,” Halt sighed as he said it.

Duncan looked back at him. “What do you mean, the truth?”

“I helped Crowley kill the Rangers after the war, or to be more specific, I was the one that killed them,”

Halt’s wrist and slapping him hard across the face. Halt was panicking so he drew his saxe knife and shakily pointed it at his father.

Meanwhile, Duncan just stood and watched as Halt randomly pulled away from him and started a nervous sweat, and then pulled out his saxe knife and pointed it at him.

“Stay away from me, Dad,” Halt said, his whole body shaking. 

Halt then saw his ‘dad’ pull out his sword, and aimed it at him. None of this was really happening, of course. It was all just a flashback. But it all felt real. (flashbacks are really scary, but sometimes you have to pretend like you don’t see people who were horrible to you, then again, sometimes you don’t even realise it’s a flashback.) Suddenly Pritchard was there, and he called out to him. He didn’t realise that Pritchard was really Crowley. He came up to Halt and Halt said, “I know I’m not supposed to use my knife on my family but I’m scared he is going to hurt me” 

Crowley looked just as confused as Duncan, and then Gilan showed up. Gilan had seen Halt like this at one point when he had to draw a picture of Pritchard in the position he had found him in. “Halt,” Gilan said.

“Who are you?” Halt asked.

“Halt, this isn’t real. Sit down, You’re okay. Put your saxe knife away. You’re a Ranger, and your dad can’t hurt you anymore.”

Halt seemed to listen, although he was still shaking.

“What is happening?” Crowley asked, teary eyed as he realised that Halt called him Pritchard.

“Pritchard, please protect me!” Halt said, running into Crowley and hugging him. Crowley, confused, patted his back gently, like Pritchard used to do to him. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Halt.” Crowley said.

Duncan spoke next. 

“Halt, It’s me-”

“Shut up, Dad! You can’t hurt me while Pritchard is here, remember that promise?”

“Halt, It’s me, Crowley. I’m not Pritchard, nor is that your dad. That’s King Duncan,”

“You mean the King of Araluen?” He said, still seeing him as his dad.

“Yes. Halt, you are here with me, Duncan, and Gilan, Your previous apprentice.”

“What do you mean, Apprentice?”

“You have another apprentice, his name is Will. He was kidnapped by Skandians and you commited treason to go rescue him. His friend, Horace, was the one who killed Morgarath, Traitor to the kingdom.”

“Will…” Halt said, remembering the name.

“Yes, he was born in the ward.”

“And,” He pointed to Duncan, “That’s King Duncan?”

“Yes, that’s King Duncan. He isn’t here to hurt you. He was just taking you to his-”

“No it’s not! That’s my dad! What did you do to my mom? Where is she?” Halt suddenly ran away, apparently looking for his mom.

“That isn’t good, Gilan-”

Gilan was gone, running with Halt. He grabbed Halt by the wrists.

“Halt,” He said. “Put your hands right here, yup, just like that,” 

Then he smacked the back of Halts hands that were resting on his cheeks. It had always worked before.

“Ow, Let go of me!” He yelled.

“Halt, You love Crowley! He was Pritchard’s other apprentice! But Pritchard died, due to Morgarath. Pritchard is dead, Halt!”

“No he isn’t! He is right behind you!”

Gilan looked behind him and there was Crowley. 

“Crowley, I don’t know what to do. He didn’t respond to the trick I used.”

“Hm. We have to get him somewhere where he is safe,” Crowley said.

“Pritchard… Tell that man that I can’t be in love with anyone, because I’m only 14!”

“Halt, I hate to tell you, but you aren’t 14. You’re 37, I’m Crowley, and I’m 38. You met me when you were sixteen, and I was seventeen. I’m afraid Pritchard died that year,”

“But..But you aren’t dead! You’re right there!”

“Halt, follow me.”

Halt followed, and he held Crowley’s hand as he walked. Crowley realised just how close him and Pritchard were to each other. It had to be hard on him.

Crowley brought him to his quarters, and showed him his oakleaf. “See, you’re in Araluen, and you’re a Ranger.”

That was when Halt’s flashback lifted, and he saw Crowley instead of Pritchard. 

“Halt,”

“Yeah, Crowley?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You weren’t supposed to see me like that. Who else did?”

“Oh, only Gilan and King Duncan,”

“Duncan saw me? Oh no...I’ll probably get fired. You might as well take my oakleaf-” He stopped as he felt something in the back of the oakleaf. He took it off and turned it over. It read,

“You did it, Halt.

~Pritchard”

Halt held it close to his heart. He envisioned Pritchard, smiling back at him.

“You finally found it,” Crowley said.

“I did.”

That’s when Duncan walked in, Gilan by his side.

“Halt, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Here, have my oakleaf. I don’t deserve to be a Ranger. He handed him his oakleaf and then left. He ran for Abelard. He rode him away, the sun setting behind him. He made camp a few miles into the woods and packaged the rest of his Arridan kafe with the note, “Share.” 

In the morning he then stopped a messenger, and handed it to him. He told him to deliver it to King Duncan immediately.

The messenger asked if he was Halt, and he said that he was. The messenger gave him a package. 

“Thanks, but I don’t know who would’ve sent me-”

“It’s from King Duncan and Ranger Commandant, Crowley Meratyn.”

“Okay. Thank you. Please deliver that package, now.”

He went back to his tent and carefully opened the packaging, careful to not destroy the thin wrapping. It was his silver oakleaf, with a note. He read it aloud.

(This is where halt’s friends ruin the image about Halt being like me)

“Halt,

We don’t mind if you have problems. We accept you for your accomplishments, not your failures. We care about you, and we want you to come back. You are one of the best Ranger’s we have, if not the best. Crowley told me not to put that in the letter, he’s jealous. He really misses you, Halt. Please come back. It’s been a day.

Halt,

This part is from me, Crowley. I want you to come back. You’re my idiot, remember? We made a promise to never abandon each other. Please come back, Halt.”

“Cliché,” Halt said.

“But man am I tempted. I guess I should go back.” He reasoned. 

Halt packed up his tent and put out his fire. He felt the note on the back of his oakleaf, and he headed back.

Chapter 14

Crowley was pacing in his room. 

“Relax, Crowley. He’ll come back,” Duncan said.

“How can you be sure? Maybe he didn’t even get the package,” Crowley said.

“Excuse me,” Said a nice girl from outside of the door.

“Yes, Elaine?” King Duncan asked.

“You’ve got a package from Ranger Halt, and he is out front.”

“Oh, okay, You can let Halt in. Escort him to these quarters.”

“Yes Sir!” She said, and then she left, handing the package to Duncan.

They opened the package, and saw the note first. They opened it, excited, but all it said was “Share”

They dug deeper and found the Arridan Kafé.

At that moment, Halt stepped into the room.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t come back because of the letter. I came back because I wanted some of the Arridan Kafé. I guess I’ll stay, though.”

“You’re an idiot,” Crowley said with a smile.

“I know,” Halt said back.

“Thank you, Elaine, you’re dismissed.” Duncan said. 

“Halt, I need you to come with me for a few minutes.” Duncan continued

Halt followed him to his office, and sat down in the chair opposite his.

“Halt, you and Gilan are certainly in trouble, especially you. But you won’t be banished or executed, that’s too intense. But you will both be out of any missions for two weeks. You can stay with Crowley, like Gilan decided to. But you have to help with paperwork.”

He heard Halt mumble something about “always doing that anyway,” and smiled.

“It really isn’t that bad of a punishment,”

“I know.”

“Okay. You’re dismissed.”

He walked back to Crowley’s quarters. He grabbed a stack of papers and got to work, sitting at a spare desk he had. “Crowley, how many papers do you have, exactly?”

“Oh, I’ve gotten over one hundred in the past day, but in total, I’d say maybe...hm. Maybe six-hundred seventy?”

“That isn’t too many,” Halt said.

“Well, Gilan took the majority, and he has already gotten about an extra three-hundred done so far today.”

“I’d better catch up, then.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Halt read the first paper in his pile, and he was already confused. 

“Why does the only thing this one say is ‘Target Acquired, Ranger Leander’?”

“Oh, he was on an assignment to find a kidnapping ring. It seems he’s found it. Although, that isn’t what I told him to put in the letter when he found them. Now that I think about it, he always puts his Ranger Number, not his name. I’m afraid something has gone wrong.”

“Oh, okay. What can I do to help?”

“You aren’t allowed on missions, remember?”

“Oh.” Halt said, a little worried. Then he got an idea. “I’m going to go talk to King Duncan,” 

“Okay, but I don’t think he will let you go on this one,”

He left anyway. He walked to Duncan’s quarters and knocked on the large mahogany door. The sound echoed throughout the halls.

“Come in,” He said. “Oh, it’s you. Already wanting to go on a mission?”

“I think Ranger Leander has been kidnapped, Your Highness,”

“All of my Rangers getting themselves either kidnapped or punished. It is finally back to the way it used to be,” He smiled as he said it. “You can go, Halt. You know you’re not really punished. I just had to give you an excuse to stay with Crowley longer. He cares about you, Halt. Try not to get yourself killed.” “I’ll do my best,” He smiled as he said it.

He went back to Crowley’s quarters to find him staring out the window, while a hot mist came through the opening. He took a deep breath in, hearing hooves trotting and horses neighing. He smiled as he saw Halt.

“It’s humid out there,”

“You knew he would let me go on this assignment, didn’t you?

“Maybe,” He said. He took another deep breath of the air from outside.

Halt left after he grabbed his things and said goodbye to Gilan. He loved the feeling of rain falling onto his face. He had Abelard go as fast as he could. Even Halt almost fell off.

Be careful.

“I know, Abelard. I know,”

You’re falling off.

“I’ll never get the last word with you,” Halt said, smiling.

Never.

Halt just smiled. Then he remembered that he was falling off, and stood in the stirrups. He laughed as Abelard sped up. He looked behind him and saw Blaze, Gilan’s Ranger Horse. He looked up slightly and there sat a smiling Gilan. Halt slowed Abelard down until Blaze caught up. “Hey, Gilan, I’m guessing you were allowed to come also,”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Well, we should slow down. We might tire our horses out.”

You could never tire me out

“Was that Abelard?” Gilan asked, surprised. 

“You mean you heard it too?”

“I always hear Blaze talking, but that didn’t sound like Blaze,”

So, you finally realize we could talk, didn’t you?

“I guess so,” Halt said quietly.

“Blaze, I have a question for you,”

What. You need to relax a bit more.

“What were you and Tug talking about when you first met him?” Gilan asked as he followed Blaze’s instructions.

I think it’s better if you don’t know.

Gilan smiled.

Chapter 15

They reached the place where Leander was last seen, and followed his tracks. They were faint, but Halt was a fairly decent tracker. Unfortunately, Leander was the best tracker in the Corps. They eventually found the bandit’s camp. Halt spotted Leander tied up to a tree. He snuck through the camp, and untied Leander. 

Leander looked a bit confused until he saw Halt’s face. He almost spoke, but Halt made a ‘be quiet’ motion. He stood, and Halt got him to Gilan. Halt then looked for his things, and found them in the main tent. He took the whole container, and carefully walked out of the tent. He walked around until he found Leander’s Ranger Horse. He took him by the lead, and led him to Leander. 

They rode away, back to Leander’s campsite. They had brought their own supplies. 

“Hey, thanks, both of you.”

“It’s not a problem. Do you have any injuries?”

“Yeah, I was lightly stabbed.”

“Lightly?”

“Yeah, they barely pierced the skin. I’m fine, though.” 

“Well, that makes two of you who have stab wounds,” Gilan said.

“Two of us? You mean Halt actually got stabbed?”

“Long story short, yes. Halt got stabbed.”

“Well then. That is unexpected.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it either,”

“You mean you saw him get stabbed? Who was he stabbed by?!”

“Meralon.” Halt interrupted. 

“No, you mean Ranger Meralon?”

“The same.”

“Wasn’t he banished?”

“Yes,” Gilan said.

“So you were on a mission in Picta and ran into him? I heard he was in Picta, but I didn’t think any other Rangers were there,”

“He is no Ranger,”

“Ex-Ranger. My bad.”

“Be careful what you say,”

They relaxed into their seats, and sipped hot coffee. It was peaceful. 

“Halt?” Leander asked.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” Halt said.

“Is Crowley okay now?”

“He is.” Halt answered, a relieved tone in his voice.

“I’m glad,” He said.

They all smiled. Eventually it was morning and they had to capture all of the bandits.

“I think that I should take care of this one with Leander,” Gilan said.

“Okay. That sounds good. Probably for the best,” Halt answered.

Leander looked confused, but Gilan made a dismissive gesture. They walked into the camp in a half-crouch position. They overtook the Guards first, then tied them to the camp’s horses. The rest happened pretty quickly, and eventually they had returned to the camp, Halt had packed up camp and tied everything to his saddle. They headed out for Araluen.

Crowley had heard the news that they were coming, and he was waiting for them at the stable. “Finally, you’re back! I’ve been waiting for an hour,” He said.

“We didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” Halt said.

Gilan smiled. “So, what did Duncan want done with these Bandits?”

“I believe I get to question them first,” Crowley said, but as he said it, King Duncan stepped outside.

“I don’t think I agreed to that,” He said, smiling.

“Well then, now’s your chance,” Crowley said.

“Alright, fine. I guess you could. Just be careful.”

“I promise,” He said as he untied the bandits from the horses. They all brought two up each. There were only 6 bandits, two of them were feisty.

They reached Crowley’s questioning room, where the windows were closed, the fireplace burning up the last bit of fuel it had, making the room hotter.

The questioning only lasted a few minutes, because they had quickly confessed. Halt left the room. He had been in the corner to make sure nothing happened. He decided that he wanted to go for a nice walk. It was early morning and it was still dark outside.

“Halt, mind if I join you?” Gilan asked.

“No, I don’t mind,” He said.

They walked quietly, and took a break for breakfast. Halt sighed. He missed being on missions with Will and Horace. It wouldn’t hurt if Gilan came along too, Halt thought. He was tempted to ask Crowley for one. 

“Gilan?” Halt asked.

“Yes, Halt?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I never apologized for freaking out, or lying to you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry,”

“What did you lie about?”

“It was about not being able to accept you as an apprentice.”

“Oh, you were?”

“You aren’t mad?”

“No, of course not! I couldn’t be mad at you,” He paused for a few seconds. “Halt?”

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

“Do you ever miss being on missions with Crowley?”

Halt was silent for a few minutes, calculating his words carefully. “I do. All of the time.”

“So it’s normal?”

“Of course. Why? Is something bothering you?”

“Well, it’s just, I wish I could go on more missions with you and Will,”

“Hm.” Halt mumbled something to himself.

“You know, you haven’t raised an eyebrow for about a week now,” Gilan said.

“Hm.” 

Gilan thought that something was bothering him. “Halt, tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.”

He doubted that, and Halt could tell. Truth be told, he felt a little weird expressing his feelings. He wanted to go back to the way things were. He didn’t want to go back to having feelings if it put others in danger, or if he actually had to deal with them. These thoughts swam around his head, and it made him confused. It felt good to talk about it, but he still didn’t want to. Keeping his feelings locked away kept him calm. 

“Halt, something is bothering you,” Gilan said, and Halt’s raised eyebrow confirmed that for him. “You know, if it’s about Crowley, you should just tell him. You’ll feel better.”

“It isn’t about Crowley,” Halt said. He did wish the anxiety that was causing his stomach to be slightly uncomfortable would go away. 

“Halt, tell me. What’s wrong? I can tell by that look in your eyes. You seem anxious, or maybe that’s a hint of loneliness. Just tell me what you’re feeling.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Gilan.” He was a little surprised at how quickly and easily Gilan had read his emotions.

“That’s fine, but you should still tell somebody about it.”

“Hmph.”

They continued riding, and Halt’s mood lifted when he saw the sunrise. It reminded him of the time when he and Crowley were reviving the corps. He slowly turned direction back toward Araluen.

“Going back already?” Gilan asked.

“No. I’m going to see something. Feel free to come along.”

Gilan noticed the tone change in Halt’s voice, it seemed like he had come to terms with something. He followed him, and he noticed him turn left, slightly away from the castle. He wondered where they were headed.

Halt then dismounted. He dropped the reins and walked into the fencing.

“Oh,” Gilan said as he realised they were at the graveyard. He followed after Halt, his footsteps silent. When he saw Halt kneel, he looked at the gravestone in front of him. It read,

RIP Pritchard

Known as one of the best Rangers,

He loved his two apprentices, 

Ranger Halt and Ranger Crowley.

He will be deeply missed.

“He was amazing,” Halt said.

“I bet he was. He practically raised you, after all.”

Halt smiled. He had kept Pritchard’s saxe knife after he passed. He took it out of his separate scabbard on his left hip, and looked at it. He remembered fighting side by side with Pritchard. He imitated his moves, remembering. Gilan stepped forward and put a hand on Halt’s shoulder.

“It’ll be okay, Halt.”

“It’s not the same. I won't see him again,” Halt said, “I can’t see him again.” He corrected.

Halt looked up, tears slightly filling his eyes. Gilan hugged him. “Halt, I know you want to get revenge on Morgarath. But you can’t,” Gilan said.

“I know,” Halt said, his voice cracking. He took a deep breath, but it was shaky. “Even though I don’t want to.”

“I got Foldar for you,” Gilan tried to help.

“I know. I appreciate it.”

Halt missed Pritchard deeply, but he knew he had to go on. Pritchard was gone, but that doesn’t mean he was gone from Halt’s heart. He would always remember him. He put the saxe knife in his scabbard. Crowley materialised, seemingly out of thin air. So that is what that’s for, Crowley thought.

“I miss him too, Halt. But we have to move on. We have to do it for him.”

Halt hugged Crowley. They all walked back to their horses, hand in hand. 

Halt and Crowley had come to peace with Pritchard’s death.


End file.
